Immelt Today on GE Move: Searching for “a Big City in a Growth Oriented State.”

GE chief executive Immelt Saturday confirmed GE’s interest in leaving Connecticut, Daily Ructions has learned. Immelt was a featured speaker today at Mitt Romney’s annual gathering of notables at the Stein Eriksen Lodge to discuss politics and public policy.

“Yes, absolutely,” Immelt was heard to say when asked if GE is serious about finding a new corporate home. Nothing in Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s Friday announcement of tweaks in a pending round of more punitive tax increases appears to have moved GE off the course it announced on June 1st. Those changes are more likely to calm restive Hartford insurance companies Aetna and Travelers. Immelt, a high-profile business advisor to President Obama, called the business environment in Connecticut “horrible.”

Immelt’s primary criteria is clear: “A big city in a growth oriented state.”